1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to technology for correcting an image, and in particular to technology for correcting an image captured by a camera provided in a moving object.
2. Background Art
Conventionally, in order for a camera to capture an image of a subject, technology for controlling a position and direction from/in which the camera captures the image (hereafter, “camera position” and “imaging direction”) has been widely used.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an intruding object monitoring system for monitoring a monitor area using a first camera, detecting an intruding object within the monitor area with use of captured images, and controlling an imaging direction of a second camera such that the second camera can follow the intruding object. Patent Document 2 discloses technology for providing a camera in a moving object that moves around within a monitor area, and capturing images of a subject by controlling the camera with the moving object itself following the subject.
However, when capturing an image of a subject with use of a camera provided in a moving object (e.g., an airborne object) while the moving object is in motion, the following problem occurs: the position of the moving object may be changed by a disturbance (e.g., a wind), which can cause a detrimental effect on the image captured by the camera.
For example, assume a case where the moving object is scheduled to capture an image of the subject while it is in motion. Here, if the moving object gets dislocated from a scheduled position from which it is scheduled to perform an image capturing, then the image is captured from an unscheduled position (i.e., the camera cannot capture the image of the subject exactly as desired). Resulting problems include the subject appearing small in the captured image, the subject being located in an unscheduled position within the captured image, and so on. Although conventional technologies have been developed under the assumption that the camera is fixed and the moving object can move stably, the detrimental effect caused by the disturbance on the captured images is still too significant to ignore.
In order to address such a detrimental effect caused by the disturbance, people have been using technology for capturing an image of a subject by mechanically controlling a moving object, such that the moving object can fly, move, etc. without yielding to a disturbance. For example, in the field of observation cameras, there is technology that uses a camera provided in an airborne object (e.g., a balloon aircraft) to capture images of various areas of the Earth while keeping the airborne object stabilized in the air. Patent Document 3, listed below, discloses technology for hanging an imaging device from an airborne object (e.g., a balloon aircraft) in such a manner that the imaging device can return to its original position by its own weight even after the balloon aircraft is swayed, and for capturing an image of a designated area by remote-controlling the imaging device such that the imaging device faces a given direction.
[Patent Document 1]
    Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-319279[Patent Document 2]    Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-328484[Patent Document 3]    Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. S60-53942
The above-described conventional technology is for capturing an image as scheduled, by controlling the camera to return to its original camera position, even when the disturbance has caused a detrimental effect on the camera.
However, since a disturbance occurs irregularly most of the time and thereby cannot be modeled, the moving object requires some time until it can fly stably. Until the moving object can fly stably, the camera cannot capture a desired image. Namely, it is difficult to prevent such a detrimental effect caused by the disturbance.
Incidentally, there has been proposed technology for controlling the camera and the moving object in accordance with images captured by the camera provided in the moving object. In this case, however, whether the images are captured as desired, or whether the captured images turned out to be undesirable due to the disturbance, is difficult to judge based on the captured images.
In light of the above, the present invention aims to provide an image correction device that can capture an image using a camera provided in a moving object and output the image that has been captured exactly as desired, even when a disturbance has caused detrimental effects on the moving object and the camera.